A modern version of Ben Johnson's classic story of money and power, The Alchemist, will open at the Riverside Studios on Jan. 8. The Alchemist is a dangerous and delirious comedy of obsession which is still as fresh and relevant as when it was first performed in 1610.

A modern version of Ben Johnson's classic story of money and power, The Alchemist, will open at the Riverside Studios on Jan. 8. The Alchemist is a dangerous and delirious comedy of obsession which is still as fresh and relevant as when it was first performed in 1610. The production company Present Moment, famous for performing The Country Wife on a cat walk, has updated Jonson's play by transposing it to the mid-1980s Docklands when stock market deregulation, soaring property prices and thrusting capitalism characterized the politics of the Thatcher decade.

The cast will include Don Gilet (TV series "Baby Father") and Arthur Caulfield (BBC's "Casualty".